New Directions in Teaching English

New Directions in Teaching English: Reimagining Teaching, Teacher Education and Research attempts to create a comprehensive vision of critical and culturally relevant English teaching at the dawn of the 21st century.

This book is multi-voiced. It includes perspectives from classroom teachers, teacher educators, and researchers in language and literacy, positioned to respond to recent changes in national conversations about literacy, learning, and assessment. These variously situated authors also recognize the rapidly changing demographics in schools, the changing nature of literacy in the digital age, and the increasing demands for literacy in the workplace.

This book is critical. At all times education is a political act, and schools are embedded within a sociocultural reality that benefits some at the expense of others. Therefore the approach advocated through many of the chapters is one of critical literacy, where English students gain reading and writing skills and proficiency with digital technologies that allow them to become more able, discerning, and empowered consumers and producers of texts.

Ernest Morrell is the Macy Professor of English Education and director of the Institute for Urban and Minority Education (IUME) at Teachers College, Columbia University. He is a past president of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE). His interests include the teaching of English, critical media literacy, and urban teacher education.

Lisa Scherff, currently a teacher at Estero High School (Florida), previously taught literacy education at the University of Tennessee, the University of Alabama, and Florida State University. Her research interests include opportunity to learn in the English/language arts, teacher preparation and development, and student–teacher discussions of young adult literature.